Now listen to me, you that say, "Today or tomorrow we will travel to a certain city, where we will stay a year and go into business and make a lot of money."

The sun rises with its blazing heat and burns the plant; its flower falls off, and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way the rich will be destroyed while they go about their business.

But you dishonor the poor! Who are the ones who oppress you and drag you before the judges? The rich!

When you have all you want to eat and have built good houses to live in

be sure that you do not become proud and forget the LORD your God who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves.

"The LORD's people grew rich, but rebellious; they were fat and stuffed with food. They abandoned God their Creator and rejected their mighty savior.

Your people captured fortified cities, fertile land, houses full of wealth, cisterns already dug, olive trees, fruit trees, and vineyards. They ate all they wanted and grew fat; they enjoyed all the good things you gave them.

"But your people rebelled and disobeyed you; they turned their backs on your Law. They killed the prophets who warned them, who told them to turn back to you. They insulted you time after time,

The wicked vomit up the wealth they stole; God takes it back, even out of their stomachs.

They will not live to see rivers of olive oil or streams that flow with milk and honey.

because they oppressed and neglected the poor and seized houses someone else had built.

When they eat, there is nothing left over, but now their prosperity comes to an end.

Let them eat all they want! God will punish them in fury and anger.

Arrows stick through their bodies; the shiny points drip with their blood, and terror grips their hearts.

Heaven reveals their sin, and the earth gives testimony against them.

This is the fate of wicked people, the fate that God assigns to them.

save me from those who in this life have all they want. Punish them with the sufferings you have stored up for them; may there be enough for their children and some left over for their children's children!

by evil people who trust in their riches and boast of their great wealth.

because the payment for a human life is too great. What we could pay would never be enough

Anyone can see that even the wise die, as well as the foolish and stupid. They all leave their riches to their descendants.

Our greatness cannot keep us from death; we will still die like the animals.

they are doomed to die like sheep, and Death will be their shepherd. The righteous will triumph over them, as their bodies quickly decay in the world of the dead far from their homes.

Don't be upset when someone becomes rich, when his wealth grows even greater;

Even if someone is satisfied with this life and is praised because he is successful,

Our greatness cannot keep us from death; we will still die like the animals.

because I was jealous of the proud when I saw that things go well for the wicked.

They do not suffer as other people do; they do not have the troubles that others have.

their hearts pour out evil, and their minds are busy with wicked schemes.

They speak evil of God in heaven and give arrogant orders to everyone on earth,

You will put them in slippery places and make them fall to destruction!

They are like a dream that goes away in the morning; when you rouse yourself, O Lord, they disappear.

Riches will do you no good on the day you face death, but honesty can save your life.

Those who depend on their wealth will fall like the leaves of autumn, but the righteous will prosper like the leaves of summer.

Here is a terrible thing that I have seen in this world: people save up their money for a time when they may need it,

and then lose it all in some bad deal and end up with nothing left to pass on to their children.

The LORD says, "The wise should not boast of their wisdom, nor the strong of their strength, nor the rich of their wealth.

Your rich people exploit the poor, and all of you are liars.

On the day when the LORD shows his fury, not even all their silver and gold will save them. The whole earth will be destroyed by the fire of his anger. He will put an end---a sudden end---to everyone who lives on earth.

Jesus then said to his disciples, "I assure you: it will be very hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of heaven.

I repeat: it is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle."

"But how terrible for you who are rich now; you have had your easy life!

Then Jesus told them this parable: "There was once a rich man who had land which bore good crops.

This is what I will do,' he told himself; 'I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I will store the grain and all my other goods.

But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself ? ' "

"There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day.

hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs would come and lick his sores.

and in Hades, where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side.

But Abraham said, 'Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things. But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain.

But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and destruction.

For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows.

Then the kings of the earth, the rulers and the military chiefs, the rich and the powerful, and all other people, slave and free, hid themselves in caves and under rocks on the mountains.

The terrible day of their anger is here, and who can stand up against it?"

Be sorrowful, cry, and weep; change your laughter into crying, your joy into gloom!

Howl in pain! The day of the LORD is near, the day when the Almighty brings destruction.

The Sovereign LORD Almighty was calling you then to weep and mourn, to shave your heads and wear sackcloth.

Instead, you laughed and celebrated. You killed sheep and cattle to eat, and you drank wine. You said, "We might as well eat and drink! Tomorrow we'll be dead."

So put on sackcloth, and weep and wail because the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from Judah.

What a lioness your mother was! She raised her cubs among the fierce male lions.

Wake up and weep, you drunkards; cry, you wine-drinkers; the grapes for making new wine have been destroyed.

Grieve, you farmers; cry, you that take care of the vineyards, because the wheat, the barley, yes all the crops are destroyed.

Put on sackcloth and weep, you priests who serve at the altar! Go into the Temple and mourn all night! There is no grain or wine to offer your God.

You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest perfumes, but you do not mourn over the ruin of Israel.

So you will be the first to go into exile. Your feasts and banquets will come to an end.

Weep and wail, cypress trees--- the cedars have fallen; those glorious trees have been destroyed! Weep and wail, oaks of Bashan--- the dense forest has been cut down!

The rulers cry out in grief; their glory is gone! Listen to the roaring of the lions; their forest home along the Jordan is destroyed!

"How terrible for you who are full now; you will go hungry! "How terrible for you who laugh now; you will mourn and weep!

Jesus turned to them and said, "Women of Jerusalem! Don't cry for me, but for yourselves and your children.

For the days are coming when people will say, 'How lucky are the women who never had children, who never bore babies, who never nursed them!'